Bank of Ireland yesterday announced that Francesca McDonagh would become its chief executive later this year, replacing Richie Boucher in the role. Ms McDonagh is currently head of Head of Retail Banking and Wealth Management at HSBC in London, and has worked in a number of locations around the world during her career. It is the first time Bank of Ireland has named a female CEO and, as an external appointment, shareholders will hope the firm will be able to benefit from her international experience.
“I would say the hand over will go fairly well, I would expect,” said Professor Niamh Brennan, who lectures in Corporate Governance at UCD. “The reason is that staff at the bank will be highly motivated to support the new CEO, even more so because it is somebody from outside. Francesca McDonagh has extraordinary experience of moving to new places – in fact it’s the standout thing about her CV as I see it.”
